As one of the world's largest advocates for web access in emerging markets, Facebook obviously cares very much just how well its own platform works on mobile devices in those markets. As such, Facebook sent a team of product managers and engineers to various regions in Africa to learn more about just how people were using the service, on which devices, and what the major pain points for the app were.

Facebook updated its Android app to version 1.9.12, adding a couple new features, like the ability to share news stories from your timeline and create photo albums directly from the mobile app. Photo tagging is improved, too, whatever that actually entails. The look of the Like / Comment / Share tabs below posts was also revamped, and it should be a little easier to tap on the respective action now.

Other than that, this is a very minor update (that crashed after about thirty seconds on my phone, yay!), as Facebook lurches ever-closer to its anticipated native Android app that is expected some time in the next few months.

Facebook for Android has been updated to version 1.9, bringing performance improvements (read: faster feed scrolling), a some new picture sharing and messaging features. You may not be able to get it quite yet on the device Play Store, but forcing the download from the web Play Store should do the trick, as usual. Here's the changelog:

-Improved performance and various bug fixes

-More messaging features like creating group messages and adding friends to existing group conversations

-Shortcuts to share photos and messages right from your home screen

I've already noticed smoother operation in the main feed when scrolling, and the new photo share button on the main feed page is pretty handy, too.

Facebook released an updated version of their Android app today and finally addressed many reported issues – namely, that it was underpowered in comparison to the Facebook app for the iPhone, or even the mobile site. Tonight’s update brings a slew of improvements, raising the app to a level that puts it on par with its sister app on iOS.

As you can see, the new app (left) is much improved over the old (right) – the most obvious new features being the photo bar along the bottom and the notification bar that now slides up, as well as adding Events, Messages, Search, and a… What’s New button.